What Your Shoes Say About You

Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world – Marilyn Monroe.

I read that as, the rights shoes open doors.

I went for an event a while back and I got introduced to one of the organizers. The man took my hand and looked at my shoes. That was the most uncomfortable stare I got in a while. It was deliberate and brief.

Not that I had bad shoes on but that was the first time I’ll notice someone take a look at them, in my face. I think he was trying to determine what class to place me based on my shoes. Well, all you need to know is we didn’t speak much after that. And from that moment I’ve been conscious of what I put on my feet.

“What was this man looking to make of the shoes? What did my shoes say about me?”

A publication in the Journal of Research in Personality shows that “shoes are a source of first impression”. The shoe a person wears often is a means of judging one’s personality and status. Participants in the research analysed pictures of people’s shoes. And they determined the age, income, gender and attachment anxiety of their owners.

That’s right. They did.

I know what that man got out of looking at my shoes – my income bracket. And I don’t plan to break the bank just so another man can have a fancy idea of how much I earn. There are also other things he could have deciphered from them – attachment anxiety for instance. He could have read how many miles I’ve racked up with them. Who knows?

Now that I look at this shoe packing up dust by my bed, I can tell a few thoughts that ran through his mind when he saw them. Good Lord, what horror these shoes are telling. Damn Daniel.

What are those?

I have a fresh pair on the rack that still has the Chinese factory worker’s fingerprints. And It says I may have a few bucks to spare on some drinks tonight. In a few months, the story will be different.

The plan is to dump the old ones and add a few more pairs. Maintain them, not with an obsession but in a way that speaks of an individual with class. One whose income may not be up there but has composure.

When next I meet the shoe whisperer he’s impression will be different. He’ll think, “if he can maintain what he tramples on this good, then there’s hope for what he carries up top”.

Then we may share a few drinks and talk like old friends.

*This post first appeared here. And it’s published with the permission of the author.